OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. This is an author-deposited version published in: http://oatao.univ-toulouse.fr/ Eprints ID : 2460To link to this article : URL : http://dx.Abstract-New energetic materials (EMs) are the key to great advances in microscale energy-demanding systems as actuation part, igniter, propulsion unit, and power. Nanoscale EMs (nEMs) particularly offer the promise of much higher energy densities, faster rate of energy release, greater stability, and more security (sensitivity to unwanted initiation). nEMs could therefore give response to microenergetics challenges. This paper provides a comprehensive review of current research activities in nEMs for microenergetics application. While thermodynamic calculations of flame temperature and reaction enthalpies are tools to choose desirable EMs, they are not sufficient for the choice of good material for microscale application where thermal losses are very penalizing. A strategy to select nEM is therefore proposed based on an analysis of the material diffusivity and heat of reaction. Finally, after a description of the different nEMs synthesis approaches, some guidelines for future investigations are provided.[2006-0259] Index Terms-Materials processing, materials science and technology, microelectromechanical devices, microelectromechanical system (MEMS), micropyrotechnics, nanoscale energetic materials (nEMs), propulsion, synthesis, thermal power generation. , where she is a Member of the Microsystems and Systems Integration (MIS) Group, Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes, in the MEMS department. Her research interests include microenergetic for MEMS, micropyrotechnical systems, and power MEMS for electrical generation. She is currently leading the power MEMS research area at LAAS, and her team proposes new concepts for actuation and energy on a chip. Authorized licensed use limited to: INP TOULOUSE. Downloaded on May 11, 2009 at 03:01 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible.

Over the next few years, it is expected that new, energetic, multifunctional materials will be engineered. There is a need for new methods to assemble such materials from manufactured nanopowders. In this article, we demonstrate a DNA-directed assembly procedure to produce highly energetic nanocomposites by assembling Al and CuO nanoparticles into micrometersized particles of an Al/CuO nanocomposite, which has exquisite energetic performance in comparison with its physically mixed Al/CuO counterparts. Using 80 nm Al nanoparticles, the heat of reaction and the onset temperature are 1.8 kJ g −1 and 410 °C, respectively. This experimental achievement relies on the development of simple and reliable protocols to disperse and sort metallic and metal oxide nanopowders in aqueous solution and the establishment of specific DNA surface-modification processes for Al and CuO nanoparticles. Overall, our work, which shows that DNA can be used as a structural material to assemble Al/Al, CuO/CuO and Al/CuO composite materials, opens a route for molecular engineering of the material on the nanoscale.

First, the structural features of nanocrystalline boehmite synthesized by hydrolysis of